


Contest

by The_Almighty_Ro



Series: Hero Relations Association [3]
Category: Avengers (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics), Justice League - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Teen Titans (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Flash (Comics), Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Contests, Gen, It Only Spells Distaster, Mentions of Wanda Maximoff - Freeform, Please Don’t Leave Any Of These Idiots Alone With Each Other, drag racing, speedsters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 18:43:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12823716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Almighty_Ro/pseuds/The_Almighty_Ro
Summary: It’s time to decide which universe has the best speedster...at least that’s what Tommy thinks. What a shame his plans to prove he’s the best don’t go according to plan.





	Contest

"So here's how we're doing this," Tommy begins without preamble, "We do three laps around the city, from this Burger King, around the McDonald's all the way on the other side, to the Wendy's by the HRA office and back here. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Bart says. He sounds incredulous and amused and Tommy has the most indescribable urge to tussle. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but why the fast food joints?"

Tommy rolls his eyes as dramatically as is possible, a hand planting itself on his hip. Billy, who has been conned into refereeing (despite Bart's protests that he'd be biased, which, fair, but everyone knows that of the two of them Billy is the Responsible and Straight-laced twin), calls it his 'oh please' pose and internally sighs. Usually it means Tommy is about to be a brat and he has to step in before he ruffles any feathers.

"Speed gets hungry when he's competitive. I think it's an anxiety thing," he rushes to intervene just as his brother opens his mouth.

His brother shuts it and glares at him, but both of them can see his pale ears turning pink. "Shut up, I do not!"

But Bart is nodding in understanding. "Oh, I get it. Don't worry dude, it's crash, I get hungry like that too. Speedster metabolism is way mode when you're hyped."

Both 'crash' and 'mode' get muttered by each twin respectively before Tommy shakes his head crosses his arms.

"Whatever, we doing this or not? Because I got places to be."

"We've got lunch with mom and Uncle Pete in half an hour," Billy pipes in without looking up from his phone. His brother glares again and Billy smiles back placidly.

None of this seems to phase Bart and he nods eagerly, already jumping in place to try and limber up. It's not like he needs to limber up, he's always primed and ready to speed off without a moment's notice, but it's good for putting on a show and everyone knows that speedsters are the showiest assholes around. Outside of sorcerers of course.

But Billy has that one covered.

"Sure, sure! I'm way down! Whenever you're ready, Speed, let's roll!"

There's a glint in Tommy's eye as he gets into the universal speedster ready position and Bart mirrors it with a cheeky grin of his own. He has no idea what is about to happen, Billy realizes, it's just as he’s opening his mouth - to warn Bart or admonish Tommy, he’ll never be sure - that it happens.

“Threetwoonego!” Tommy shouts in a rush and he’s gone, already speeding away before either his brother or his opponent can blink.

Which Bart does before he realizes he’s just been duped. “Hey no fair!” And off he goes too.

Billy thinks he might be developing a tension headache.

Speedster races are notoriously hard to keep track of. Not only because of the sheer speeds the participants tend to go at, but also because anyone who isn't one can't tell whether or not there’s cheating going on. That's why his Uncle and brother tend to use larger cityscapes for their own races; if either of them decides to play dirty, there’s enough time for one to catch up and enough obstacles to slow the other down. Billy doesn't think Tommy will pull the same tricks he tries on his uncle to try and even the odds, but he wouldn't put it past him either. And Bart doesn't seem to have a cheating bone in his body.

Billy counts their passing red and green blurs twice in five minutes before his phone vibrates in his hand. He opens the text automatically, thinking it's Teddy, but the name that greets him and their accusatory text pulls him up short. “Oh hell.”

The blurs are coming by again, he can see them over the top of his phone, but from the opposite direction is another blur, equally green, with a taller red blur on its six. Honestly they never stood a chance.

Pietro stops just past where the finish line is marked by Billy’s magic and basically clothes lines Tommy while pulling him into a headlock. “Nephew,” he greets genially.

“GFFK!” Tommy replies.

While this is happening, Bart, who is distracted by the newcomer, misses the dip in the road and goes ass over end down the street. Normally the speed at which he’s rolling means some major collateral damage, but the red blur overtakes him and he slams into Barry instead. They go skidding back several feet and there’s the distinct smell of hot asphalt in the air that Billy has to blink against or else tear up. Bart grins sheepishly up at his grandfather while Barry just arches an eyebrow back.

“Hey Gramps. Sick catch.”

It's hard to tell beneath the cowl, but Barry rolls his eyes. “Didn't I tell you not to go drag racing with the new speedsters?”

“No?” He tries and at Barry’s flat look he coughs and looks away. “Maybe? But Speed challenged me first! He was going on about ‘616 speedsters being the best’, so of course I had to defend our honor!”

Tommy squawks in indignation from where he’s now trying to escape his uncle’s grasp. “Tattletale!” He yells. “Betrayer!”

His response is to stick his tongue out at the other teen while Barry tries very hard not to look amused in the face of Tommy’s plight. Considering how serious Pietro seems to be half the time, he doesn’t think he’d appreciate having ‘Maverick Offender Barry Allen’ laughing at his nephew. Fortunately, Quicksilver seems preoccupied with wrangling the tiny spitfire as he screams childish abuse at his own grandson.

“Your mother has told you the same thing, Thomas,” Pietro says. He has Tommy in that headlock still and doesn’t even seem to be breaking a sweat over holding him fast. At his full name though, Tommy goes very still. “This on top of being late to your lunch with her, she will be very disappointed.”

Yikes, think Barry and Bart simultaneously, that’s cold.

“And do not think I have forgotten you either, William!” He adds brightly. Billy was halfway toward muttering a spell to sink into the ground when he gets addressed and he straightens instantly, fists clenched as he tries to hide his anxiety. “You let your brother talk you into this?”

“It was for a good reason,” he mutters and hunches in on himself again.

Pietro nods like he doesn’t believe him whatsoever, which, fair. Because as far as he knows Billy wasn’t keeping an eye on his twin to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid to get hurt and not because he’s wishy-washy. Billy thinks that his uncle must believe he and Tommy are a lot like him and Wanda. “We are leaving now.”

The declaration incenses Tommy and he begins his struggling anew. “But the race-!”

“Is over,” Pietro says. In the background, Bart can be heard saying ‘that’s so mode’ and he and Barry are spared a brief, quizzical look. Barry just shrugs helplessly. “Besides, there is no contest...we’re the superior speedsters.”

Despite the usual city din blanketing them, you could have heard a pin drop in the ensuing silence after Pietro’s declaration. Bart couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his grandpa look so serious, but hey, you see and learn new things every day...like the fact that trashtalk is a great way to convince Barry to participate in any contest of speed to be had.

The Flash clears his throat and Quicksilver’s head swivels toward him. “Oh you are, are you?” There’s no mistaking the indignant challenge in his voice.

Tommy can’t see the change in his uncle’s demeanor, but he can certainly hear it. “Obviously,” he replies and his voice is so full of the same haughty confidence he’s been trying and pretty much failing to emulate for years that he can feel his ears burn. He tries to send a pleading look to his brother to help free him, but Billy is already backing up and shaking his head; he doesn’t want to be partner to this anymore than Tommy, and maybe even Bart, does.

Because adults are fucking weird.

“Care to prove that?” Barry asks almost casually but anyone with eyes can see there’s nothing casual about it. “I mean, it’s cool if you don’t. It’s just, you know, in _this universe_ , I’m the fastest man alive.”

As it turns out, Tommy doesn’t need Billy to free him because Pietro lets him go on his own. He zips to his brother’s side, oh so casually using his dumb cape for cover, as he watches his uncle pretty much make an ass of himself with him. Ugh, great, Uncle Pete is doing his stupid ‘I’m A Big Tough Russian’ pose now. The one where he crosses his arms over his chest and looks down his sharp nose at whoever’s in his vicinity.

Lucky for them, Barry is either unaffected or completely oblivious to it. Secretly the twins are hoping it’s the first; it’d net him so many cool points.

“Is that right?”

Barry nods as he finally - _finally_ \- sets Bart down, grin bright and totally shit-eating while he zips over to the twins to hide with Tommy because he knows he has him. “Yep!” He says, with extra emphasis on the ‘p’ because he knows how much it annoys types like Quicksilver and Batman.

“....prove it.”

Ah ha, hook line and sinker.

He makes a sweeping gesture at the city and then jerks his head back at Pietro. “Same circuit the boys were using? Wouldn’t want to get any major media attention, after all.”

Pietro nods as he stalks up to the still burning finish line, stretching his arms above his head. His shoulders pop so loud that Barry almost flinches; the twins are under no such macho compunction and do it for him while Bart stares at their uncle in awe. “That is acceptable.”

“Great!” Barry cheers and claps his hands, “Last one back had to do a mission with the other’s team-”

If he thought Pietro was going to wait for some kind of signal, Barry had another thing coming. Before he could even finish speaking, the other speedster was off in a green and silver blur. Barry himself had exactly .02 seconds to stand there with his mouth open before he realized he’d been duped instead and shout ‘Hey!’ as he took off after him. In the ensuing silence after the adults had made their exit, the twins and Bart were left to stare after them.

Eventually, it was Impulse who broke the silence with a whistle. “Maaaaaan...your uncle is so cool.”

Both twins just laughed nervously. “Yeah, uh, sometimes. Hey so...we should probably go!” Billy said while Tommy nodded eagerly behind him.

Bart was confused. “What? Why? Don’t you want to see which of them wins?”

“Well yeah, sure,” Tommy chimes in this time, “Except, you see, our mom sent him to get us and now he’s drag racing instead, and....”

“And?” He prompted impatiently when Tommy didn’t seem to want to continue.

They both looked at each other before back at Bart. Neither of them looked exactly like the other but it was still unnerving as hell to have them pull the twin thing on him. “She is going to be so pissed.”

As confused as Bart was, he understood angry moms, so he let Billy warp both him and his brother out of there before the Scarlet Witch could show up and chew them all out. Needless to say it was a good thing they’d gotten out of dodge while the getting was good because he was pretty sure that both his grandpa and Quicksilver got their asses kicked. Most powerful reality warper in the universe indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> Quick FYI: if Wanda hadn’t shown up to interrupt their race, Barry would have totally won. But now they’ll never know for sure because neither of them are allowed to be alone in the same room together.
> 
> Meanwhile, Bart has weaseled his way into Tommy and Billy’s circle and everyone thinks he’s a delight.


End file.
